Lawrence Sullivan Ross was governor of Texas from January 18, 1887 to
January 20, 1891. Although born in Iowa on September 27, 1838, Sul Ross became
a Texan before his first birthday, when his family settled in Milam County. The
family moved to Austin in 1846 and Waco in 1849, where Ross' father was U.S.
Indian agent on the Brazos Reservation. Ross attended Baylor University and
graduated from Wesleyan University in Florence, Alabama. In 1860 the ranger
company which he commanded recaptured Cynthia Ann Parker. During the Civil War,
Ross fought in 135 battles or skirmishes, rising to command Ross' Brigade as
brigadier general. He farmed near Waco until he was elected sheriff of McLennan
County in 1873, achieving a reputation for effectiveness. Ross was a delegate
to the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and a state senator in 1881-1882. He
easily won the governor's chair in 1886. During his terms in office, progress
was made in the sale and leasing of public lands, the regulation of railroads,
and the establishment of eleemosynary institutions, and a state prohibition
amendment was defeated. Ross' second inauguration took place in the new state
capitol building. In 1891 he became president of Texas A&M College, ending
an eight-year vacancy in that post. Ross died near Bryan, Texas on January 3,
1898.

Records are correspondence and proclamations dating from 1887 to 1888,
and are documents from Lawrence Sullivan Ross' first term as governor of Texas.
Correspondence includes letters of resignation from various appointed state and
local officials, as well as letters of introduction and letters requesting and
recommending appointments. A few documents relate to quarantines to protect
against cholera and yellow fever and one document relates to the Houston and
Texas Central Railway Company.